Few marques on the road today have a heritage as rich and distinguished as Jaguar.
That is, when you consider that it was conceived in 1922 by
William Lyons, a man whose original vision was to design motorcycle sidecars with his
Swallow Sidecar Company.
By 1927, he’d progressed to building special bodied cars, which in 1931 resulted in the launch of the legendary SS1 – a car which set the stage for the first true Jaguar. As the range improved and expanded, it needed a name to reflect its speed, power and sleekness and in 1935 the Jaguar name was born.
During World War II, whilst concentrating primarily on the manufacture of sidecars for military use, the company also learnt aircraft design and production techniques. When Jaguar subsequently introduced its new XK120 at the 1948 Motor Show – with an engine output of an unprecedented 160
BHP – it was destined to become one of the greatest sports cars of all time.
The Mark VII saloon was unveiled at the 1950 Motor Show and once again Lyons ’stole the show’.
Jaguar now had a fine reputation, a superb large saloon and a very fine sports car, but it needed a high volume smaller car. In 1955, the company invested £1 million on designing and developing the Jaguar 2.4 to fill the gap.
After an exploratory trip to Le Mans in 1950, it was realised that Jaguar had the makings of a successful competition car. Consequently Lyons was persuaded that a car should be produced solely with racing in mind. Hence was born the XK120C or, as the car is more generally known, the C-type.
Three C-types were finished just in time for Le Mans in 1951. The Jaguars were an unknown quantity, yet the C-type driven by Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead recorded a remarkable victory on its racing debut.
Meanwhile Jaguar engineers had been working in conjunction with Dunlop on a new development, the disc brake.
This was to be Jaguar’s secret weapon upon their return to Le Mans in 1953. With their fade-free brakes the C-types could decelerate at the end of the three and a half mile Mulsanne Straight from speeds of around 150 mph with complete confidence, and they could leave their braking far later than their rivals. The result was a complete walkover, the Jaguars finishing first, second and fourth.
If further proof were needed that Jaguar was now a world force and the XK engine a world beater, then the emphatic triumph of ‘53, against one of the strongest fields any race had ever seen, provided it. By the end of the decade, Jaguar C-types, and the D-types that followed, had achieved a total of five victories at Le Mans.
By the 1960s, Jaguar needed to make another quantum leap forward. The E-type, announced in 1961, was just that. Like the XK120 in 1948, it was an absolute sensation, perfectly capturing the spirit of its time. A true automotive icon, and arguably the most famous sports car of all time, some 70,000 Jaguar E-types were built over the next 13 years – with around 60% being shipped to the United States.
In 1968, the XJ6 arrived. It was without question the finest Jaguar saloon yet, and met with instant praise. First and foremost, the shape was another Lyons masterpiece. In an era when cars were starting to lose their character, the Jaguar strongly retained its identity.
In 1972, aged 71, Sir William Lyons retired. Innovation and development continued under Lofty England, and 1975 saw the launch of the XJ-S – a sports coupé and convertible that boasted saloon car refinement and quietness. A new era began in 1980, when John Egan was appointed Chairman and Managing Director.
Jaguar soon experienced increased demand, particularly in the United States, and continued to refine many models over the ’80s. Two further Le Mans victories followed, with the XJR-9LM in 1988 and XJR-12 in 1990. By 1989 the Jaguar Board recognised the potential value of collaborating with a worldclass car manufacturer. Events moved swiftly and by the end of the year the company was owned by Ford Motor Company Limited.
Throughout the nineties Jaguar underwent a programme of modernisation and expansion that saw the introduction of the new XK8 and XKR sports coupés and convertibles and the launch of the new mid-sized S-TYPE sports saloon – ensuring that Jaguar would enter the new millennium with record levels of production and the broadest product range in the company’s history.
In February 2001, the new X-TYPE – true to form – became the highlight of the Geneva International Motor Show. While in 2002, the all-new XJ, featuring a revolutionary aluminium body construction, was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show to great acclaim. Worldwide sales of the all-new XK range of sports cars – the most technically advanced Jaguar’s ever built – began in March 2006.
This distinguished heritage continues with every Jaguar – they stay true to Lyons’ original vision of providing drivers with a unique blend of style, luxury and performance.
